The coffee world has changed since Starbucks rose to prominence. Not
only has the sourcing of beans acquired wine-like precision, but now
there are many small, local roasters. How'd this all happen? Episode 4
brings you into the infrastructure underpinning third-wave coffee from
a Kenyan coffee auction to a major coffee importer to a secret coffee
warehouse in San Leandro with beans from every coffee-growing nation
in the world. We’re guided by Aaron Van der Groen, the green coffee
buyer for San Francisco’s legendary roaster Ritual Coffee.

Episode 4: The Hidden Side of Coffee

Containers is an 8-part audio documentary about how global trade has transformed the economy and ourselves. Host and correspondent Alexis Madrigal leads you through the world of ships and sailors, technology and tugboats, warehouses and cranes. At a time when Donald Trump is threatening to toss out the global economic order, Containers provides an illuminating, deep, and weird look at how capitalism actually works now.